Rotating valve sleeve for outboard motor with wedge type piston



June 19, 1962 J. STUCKE ROTATING VALVE SLEEVE FOR OUTBOARD MOTOR WITH WEDGE TYPE PISTON 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 25, 1960 John Stun/re June 19, 1962 Filed Feb. 25, 1960 ROTAT MO STUCK J. E ING VALVE SLEEVE FOR OUTBOARD TOR WITH WEDGE TYPE PISTON 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 John Stucke INVENTORT J. STUCKE ROTATING VALVE SLEEVE FOR OUTBOARD June 19, 1962 MOTOR WITH WEDGE TYPE PISTON 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 25, 1960 Jo/m ,Stucke INVENTOR. BY fimaaiizm elm yaw; 3M

339A48 Patented June 19, 1962 sm n 3 039,448 ROTATING VALVE :SLEEVE FOR GUTBOARD MOTOR WITH WEDGE TYPE PISTON John Stucke, 703 Greymont St., Philadelphia, Pa. Filed Feb. 25, 1960, Ser. No. 11,080 Claims. (Cl. 12359) This invention relates to a novel and useful type of outboard motor, and more particularly to an outboard motor of the four stroke cycle type which is provided with rotating valve sleeves within its cylinders that are disposed between the uppermost point of the travel of the pistons and the cylinder head at the upper end of the cylinder. Each valve sleeve has a port formed through the side walls thereof which is successively registerable with inlet and outlet ports formed in the corresponding cylinder of the outboard motor.

This invention is an improvement over my copending application for Rotating Cylinder for Outboard Motor With Wedge Type Piston, Serial No. 761,437, filed September 9, 1958, now Patent No. 2,982,272, and provides a means whereby the outboard motor may be provided with rotating valve sleeves disposed above the uppermost travel of the pistons in the cylinders so that the pistons are not required to reciprocate in rotating sleeves. The tops of the pistons are provided with wedges or projections to at least partially occupy the volume of the rotating valve sleeves whereby the proper compression ratio of each of the cylinders of the outboard motor may be maintained and inasmuch as the pistons are not slidably disposed in the rotating sleeves, the friction of the outboard motor is greatly reduced over that which is present in the outboard motor disclosed in my abovementioned copending application.

Many of the conventional forms of internal combustion engines of the four cycle type being manufactured today utilize poppet intake and exhaust valves which have proven to be ineffective to some degree at high r.p.m. as these types of valves tend to float when high speed operation is required. Internal combustion engines having rotating sleeve valves have heretofore been designed but most have incorporated sleeve valves adapted to rotate about axes extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the cylinders of the internal combustion engine. Sleeve valves of the type actually comprising the cylinder walls in which the pistons reciprocate have also been utilized but have many disadvantages including greatly increased friction resulting from the increased relative movement of the reciprocating pistons in the rotating sleeves. It is therefore the main object of this invention to provide an internal combustion engine having a rotating valve sleeve disposed in the upper portion of each cylinder of the engine above the piston travel and jour- 1 nalled for rotation about the longitudinal axis of the sleeve. The invention includes the provision of intake and exhaust ports formed through each cylinder wall and circumferentially spaced thereabout above the piston travel. An opening is provided in the rotating sleeve which is successively registerable with the intake and outlet ports of the cylinder.

A further and very important object of this invention is to position the intake and outlet ports relative to their associated cylinders in a manner whereby the rotation of the engine may be reversed if it is desired by merely interchanging the positioning of the intake and exhaust manifolds and making the necessary adjustments to the ignition system.

A still further object of this invention is to provide pistons having projections extending toward the cylinder head to at least partially displace the volume of the rotating sleeve whereby the compression ratio of the cylinders may be properly maintained.

And a final object to be specifically enumerated herein is to provide a new and useful type of outboard motor which will conform to conventional forms of manufac ture, be of relatively simple construction and easy to operate so as to provide a device that will be economically feasible, long lasting and dependable.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter de scribed and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the outboard motor with parts thereof being broken away and shown in section to show the detailsof its construction and the manner in which the rotating sleeve cooperates with the other components of the motor;

FIGURE 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view on somewhat of an enlarged scale taken substantially upon a plane indicated by the section line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective View on somewhat of an enlarged scale of the compression ring for the rotating sleeve;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view on somewhat of an enlarge scale of the rotating sleeve;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged transverse sectional view showing the rotating sleeve and its compression ring in an assembled state;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the piston;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged detailed fragmentary sectional view of the shifting mechanism of the outboard motor; and

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse horizontal sectional view of a portion of the shifting mechanism taken substantially upon a plane passing through the: lower unit of the outboard motor below the shifting yo e.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings the numeral 1a generally designates the outboard motor comprising a part of the instant invention. The outboard motor 10 is provided with a block generally referred to by the reference numeral 12 and a crank case generally designated by the reference numeral 14.

A crank shaft generally designated by the reference numeral 16 having a plurality of eccentric cranks 18 thereon is journalled in the crankcase 14 by means of journal and thrust bearings 20 and 22, respectively. One end of the crankshaft 16 is provided with a flywheel 24 of a suitable type which may include a magneto for supplying electricity to the spark plugs 26 if it is desired.

The other end of the crankshaft 16 is splined as at 28 and has engaged therewith a bevel drive gear 30.

A power shaft 32 is also journalled in the crankcase and is disposed at right angles to the crankshaft .16 with one end being provided with a driven bevel gear 34 engaged with the drive bevel gear 30. The other end of the power shaft 32 is with a driven gear 36. The other end of the power shaft 32 may also be utilized to power the water pump 38 and the oil pump 40 for lubricating and cooling the motor 10.

The block 12 has a plurality of cylinders 42 formed therein and there is a piston 44 provided with the usual rings 4-6 slidably disposed in each of the cylinders 42. A connecting rod 48 is secured between each piston 44 and the corresponding eccentric crank 18 whereby reciprocation of the pistons 44 in the cylinders 42 will effect rotation of the crankshaft 16.

The upper portion of each of the cylinders 42 have a rotating valve sleeve 50 journalled therein above the uppermost travel of the pistons 44, see FIGURES l and 3 through 5. Each of the sleeves 541 is generally cylindrical and is provided with a circumferentially extending groove 52 about its lower portion. The upper end of each of the sleeves St) is provided with peripheral gear teeth 54 for engagement by a driving gear to rotate each of the sleeves 50. An opening 56 is formed through one Wall of the sleeve 50 communicating the interior of the sleeve with the groove 52 and a pair of lugs 58 extend radially from the sleeve 56 and are formed on opposite sides of the opening 56. A cylindrical compression and sealing sleeve generally designated by the reference numeral 6% is provided for engagement with the groove 52. The compres sion and sealing sleeve 60 is split as at 62 to compensate for expansion and the confronting ends of the split sleeve 60 are notched as at 64 to form an opening 66 which is adapted to be aligned with the opening 56. Each of the notches 64 is provided with a recess 68 for receiving one of the radially projecting lugs 58. In this manner, the compression and sealing sleeve 60 is secured to the sleeve 50 for rotation therewith. The openings 56 and 66 are aligned as can be most clearly observed in FIGURE of the drawings.

The sleeves 50 may be journaled for rotation in the block in any convenient manner but in this case the sleeves are journalled for rotation by means of bearings 70 disposed about depending projections 72 formed integrally with the cylinder head 74. The gear teeth 54 of each of the sleeves 50 is in engagement with the gear teeth 54 on the adjacent sleeve 50 and the sleeve 51 adjacent the power shaft 32 has its gear teeth 54 meshed with the gear 36. Therefore, the sleeve 50 adjacent the power shaft 32 is rotated in an opposite direction relative to the power shaft 32 while the next adjacent sleeve 50 is rotated in the same direction as power shaft 32 etc.

The block 12 is provided with suitable passageways 74 for circulating cooling fluid there-through and each of the spark plugs 26 is supplied with a weatherproof protective cap 76. The outboard motor 19 is also provided with a suitable mounting bracket 78 secured to the crankcase 14 by means of suitable fasteners 80 and adapted to pivotally secure the outboard motor to the transom of a boat.

The end of the crankshaft 16 splined at 28 is adapted for engagement with an intermediate shaft 82, whose lower end is splined to the upper end of a stub shaft 84 as at 86.

The upper end of the intermediate shaft 82 has an enlarged splined end portion 88 secured thereto by means of a transverse pin 91 and an intermediate portion of the intermediate shaft 82 is rotatably journalled through the cylindrical portion of a yoke 92 having bevel gear 4 secured to the upper end thereof. The bevel gear 94 is engaged with the bevel gear 34 and the yoke 29 is provided with a non-circular opening 96 which is engageable with the non-circular radially extending projection 28 secured to the intermediate shaft 82 for effecting simultaneous rotation of the intermediate shaft 82 and the bevel gear 94 when the non-circular projection is engaged with the non-circular opening 96 formed in the yoke 96. A shifting lever 10% is operatively connected to the intermediate shaft 82 by means of shift rod 102 for eifecting vertical sliding movement of the intermediate shaft 82 to selectively engage the shaft 82 with either the bevel gear 36 or the bevel gear 94 for selectively reversing the rotation of the intermediate shaft 82. The lower end of the stub shaft 84 has a bevel gear 1M secured thereto which engages the bevel gear 1% secured to the propeller shaft 168 on which the propeller is secured. Thus, it will be noted that, upon manipulation of the shifting lever 100, the rotation of the propeller 116 relative to the crankshaft 16 may be selectively reversed.

Passageways 74 are provided with water from the water pump 38. The water is admitted to the pump 33 through the water intake tube 112 and the exhaust from the motor 10 passes through the exhaust pipe 114 which forms an extension of the exhaust manifold 116.

With particular attention directed to FIGURE 2 of the drawings it will be noted that adjacent sleeves 50 are ope-ratively connected for opposite rotation and that the positioning of the main intake ports 1 18 for the block 12 are positioned relative to each other in the same manner as are the main exhaust ports for the block 12. Thus, it will be noted that the intake manifold 122 may be reversed in position with the exhaust manifold 124 if it is desired to have the crankshaft 16 of the motor 10 rotate in the opposite direction.

The outboard motor illustrated in the drawings is shown with four cylinders and it is of the four stroke cycle type. It will be noted that each of the individual cylinder intake port 126 are positioned in the same manner relative to each other as the individual exhaust ports 128 are positioned relative to each other whereby opposite rotation of the sleeves 50 will not in any way change the performance of the motor 10 as long as the intake and exhaust manifolds 122 and 124 are also reversed in position.

Each of the pistons 44 is provided with a step or upwardly extending projection 130 which is spaced inwardly slightly from the outer circumference of the pistons 44. The step or projections 130 are receivable within the sleeves 50 in order to at least partially displace the volume of the sleeves 50 whereby the compression ratio of the motor 10 may be maintained as desired.

In operation, each of the sleeves 50 rotates upon rotation of the crankshaft 16 and as each piston 44 approaches the lowermost position of its power stroke the corresponding aligned openings 56 and 66 begin to move into registry with the corresponding individual exhaust port 128 whereby movement of the piston 44 during the exhaust stroke will exhaust the products of combustion from within the cylinder 42. Then, as the piston 44 reaches the uppermost extent of its exhaust stroke the aligned openings 56 and 66 register with the corresponding individual intake port 126 whereby a combustible mixture will be forced into that cylinder 42 upon movement of the piston 44 during the intake stroke. The sleeves 50 are disposed above the uppermost travel of the pistons 44 and therefore the greater elficiency of an internal combustion engine provided with rotating valve sleeves are obtained without the usual considerable increase in friction. It is to be noted that the pistons 44 adjacent each main intake port 118 are mounted for similar movement in the corresponding cylinders 42 but that while one is completing the compression stroke the other is completing the exhaust stroke.

By providing each of the rotating sleeves 50 with a compression and sealing sleeve 60 a minimum amount of compression is lost during the compression stroke and the split sleeve 66 provides a means for compensating for expansion resulting from operation of the motor 11) thereby enabling the component part of the rotating valve sleeve to operate without binding with adjacent parts of the motor 10.

Although there is an outboard motor 16 illustrated in the drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is in no way limited to outboard motors and may be successfully used in various types of internal combustion engines.

Further, the intermediate shaft 82 may be positioned between the forward and reverse positions as illustrated in FIGURE 1 to effect a neutral position wherein propeller 4i? will not be drivingly connected to the crankshaft 16.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and de scribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. An internal combustion engine comprising a block having a cylinder, a crankshaft, a piston slidably disposed in said cylinder, a connecting rod connecting the piston to the crankshaft whereby reciprocation of the piston in the cylinder will cause rotation of the crankshaft, a rotating valve sleeve disposed in the end of said cylinder remote from said crankshaft and journalled for rotation, said sleeve being disposed beyond the travel of the surfaces of said piston in sliding contact with said cylinder away from said crankshaft, said valve sleeve being rotated in timed relation to the reciprocation of the piston, said cylinder having circumferentially spaced inlet and exhaust ports formed therein, an opening in said sleeve for successive registry with said inlet and outlet ports for admitting a combustible mixture through the sleeve and discharging the combustion products therefrom, ignition means communicating with the interior of said cylinder for igniting a combustible mixture therein, a circumferential groove in the outer surfaces of said valve sleeve extending completely thereabout and communicating with said opening, a split band-like compression and sealing sleeve disposed in said groove and having an opening formed therethrough, and means interlocking said sealing sleeve for rotation with said valve sleeve with the openings therein in registry with each other.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein a power shaft is driven from said crankshaft, said power shaft drivingly connected to said sleeve for rotation of the latter about its longitudinal axis.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said engine includes at least one pair of cylinders each having a cylindrical sleeve rotatably journa-lled therein and a piston slidably disposed in each of said cylinders, said pistons each being operatively connected to said crankshaft for like movement in said cylinders with said sleeves rotated relative to each other so that the positioning of one piston will position the other piston at the end of the compression stroke.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said sealing sleeve is split longitudinally along one side to position portions of the opening formed therein on opposite sides of the confronting ends of said sealing sleeve.

5. The combination of claim 4 including a pair of circumferentially extending recesses formed in said sealing sleeve opening into the opening formed in said sleeve and toward each other, said interlocking means comprising lugs carried by said valve sleeve and projecting radially outwardly of said groove and received in said recesses.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 630,057 Johnson Aug. 1, 1899 1,154,899 Von Hacht et al Sept. 28, 1915 1,183,641 Gundelach May 16, 1916 1,208,468 Boyce Dec. 12, 1916 1,230,613 Staver June 19, 1917 1,291,316 Westlake Jan. 14, 1919 1,401,322 Davidson Dec. 27, 1921 FOREIGN PATENTS 536,771 Germany Oct. 27, 1931 

